Almost 400 hectares of tea plants in Nantou county, worth up to NT$300 million, have died as a result of the drought, agricultural authorities in the county said yesterday.
An official of the county government's agricultural department said that high-quality oolong tea is the sole agricultural product of the Lugu (
Lugu's Dongding (凍頂) oolong tea is an expensive variety of green tea, selling abroad for around US$100 a kilogram. In the Lugu region, the plantations of Dongding oolong tea total 2,000 hectares, representing almost a quarter of the tea plantations in Nantou County -- sometimes known as the "tea kingdom" of Taiwan.
The official said that it is the first time in 50 years that such a large number of plants have affected by dry weather. He said that the tea plantations also suffered great losses during the earthquake of Sept. 21, 1999.
Some plantation owners whose irrigation systems have not been fully repaired since then are considering giving up their businesses after the devastation of the current drought.
According to government figures, Taiwan's average annual precipitation amounts to around 2,500mm, more than triple the global average of 800mm. But 80 percent of that rainfall occurs during the summer months. In addition, short rivers and rapid currents make it difficult to store water, so most of the rainwater flows directly into the sea. Only 26 percent or rainwater is retained for use.
Moreover, because of Taiwan's dense population, the precipitation distributed per capita annually is only one-sixth of the global average, ranking Taiwan No.18 in the world in terms of water shortages, according to government figures.
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